


Hesitation

by queenbaskerville



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 10:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3566090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbaskerville/pseuds/queenbaskerville
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Altered scene from s2ep10 - If Slaine's mask had been a little less perfect when asked, "He was not hard on you?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hesitation

Slaine picked his teacup off of the table in front of him. He had not expected this visit from Count Cruhteo's successor, but he was handling it smoothly. Luckily his excuse that the princess was't doing well was not questioned, and Cronkine accepted the offer of tea.

"I am aware that you were once under the care of my fa- of the previous Count." Cronkine said, breaching the silence that had fallen over the two.

Slaine had known this was going to come up as soon as he'd been alerted to Cronkine's presence. He was just grateful that Cruhteo's hatred of Terran's hadn't been passed on to Cronkine- or, he thought darkly, Cronkine just knew that it wouldn't be polite to say anything degrading to a host of equal rank. Either way, he needed Cronkine's loyalty to sway the rest of the royalists. His outward expression didn't change as he said, "I am most indebted to your late father." He tried to say it gently, and knew that by using the word "father" rather than copying Cronkine's "previous count" he would be able to establish that he was sympathetic to Cronkine and wouldn't expect him to be stiff and formal. He needed Cronkine to warm up to him in order to bring him to his side.

What he expected Cronkine to say next was something along the lines of a mournful smile and maybe some wistful words about the time Cronkine wasn't able to spend with his father, or maybe a polite "Is that so?", or even just an awkward nod. He was not expecting Cronkine to pick up his own teacup and ask, "He was not hard on you?"

Slaine's fake smile faltered as Cronkine's mellow blue eyes became Cruhteo's disgusted, enraged ones, and all of a sudden his scars felt raw and new. Cruhteo's voice rung in his ears, a deep and threatening, "Know your place, _Terran_ ," and Slaine struggled to listen to what the other count was saying, desperately trying to block out Cruhteo.  

"....stern to a fault." Cronkine finished saying.

Slaine managed to reign in his emotions in a split second and put an easygoing smile on his face. His voice sounded distant and hollow in his ears. "Count Cruhteo was a skilled count. I learned many lessons from him."

He wasn't even lying, which made it a little easier. Just dodging the truth.

But he hadn't kept his mask as perfect as he'd hoped he would.

Cronkine's expression was unreadable. "You hesitated," he said, voice even. "What.... what was that look on your face?"

Slaine's smile froze, and he tried not to tense. He screwed up. He screwed up, he was in for it now- "My apologies, there must be a mistake. If I hesitated it wasn't my intention. Your father-" he knew that if he tried to lie and say that he was treated well he might choke, so he decided to say, "I would not be the man I am today if it wasn't for him."  

Cronkine's narrowed his eyes, but not out of malice- more like suspicion. _He doesn't believe me,_ Slaine thought, and he tried to smooth out his outward appearance as much as he could, hiding his frayed nerves. This was not how he had planned for this to go. He grasped for something genuine-sounding to say, but the blaring alarm system saved him from having to respond.  

Slaine shoved Cruhteo violently from his mind and turned to the more pressing matter at hand. He felt Cronkine's eyes on his back when they both rushed from the room, but he forced himself to ignore it.

* * *

 Slaine Troyard's shaking hands and pained face occupied Cronkine's thoughts when he wasn't overly focused on the chaos around him.

Maybe he hadn't really seen Troyard's hands shake around his teacup. Maybe he'd imagined the agony that had consumed Troyard for a brief moment before he was all smiles again. No,  _no_ , he _had_ seen it. He knew he had. But was he overthinking it? Surely he was- surely there wasn't something wrong. His father was stern, yes, but not nearly enough to warrant that expression-

Perhaps Troyard had just had some sort of premonition about the Terran attack that followed shortly after. Cronkine had read stories about those who sometimes felt a chill before a bad event happened, or had an instinct that troubled their thoughts but saved them from some terrible fate. Perhaps that was all it was, and Troyard was being truthful when he said that Cronkine had been mistaken.

No. No, it couldn't be that simple. 

But was it possible that Troyard had been mistreated-?

Cronkine's mind looped like that, over and over, until he was certain he was making something huge out of nothing, and that he imagined the whole thing. But the niggling worry that he was right stayed in the back of his mind even as he left the safe area he'd been shown when he heard the men searching for her highness. 

He realized that meeting her again was an opportunity to put his fears aside just after he had reintroduced himself, and while it was impolite to speak first while he knelt in front of her, he had to be rid of the worry that his father had- had done _something_ , had done _what?_

"May I be so bold as to ask a favor, your highness?" Cronkine asked, keeping his uneasy emotions out of his voice. 

Princess Asseylum had been very surprised to see him, but she, too, erased that from her appearance quickly and replaced it with friendliness. Cronkine absentmindedly wondered how much of it was real- how much of any of their expressions were.

"Yes, of course," the princess replied, calling him out of his thoughts.

"You spent a lot of time with Count Troyard back when he was in my father's care, yes?"

The princess nodded, looking slightly confused.

"Did my father treat him kindly?"

Princess Asseylum blinked, surprise written all over her face again. She hadn't been expecting any of these questions- that raised his hopes. "I never saw any evidence otherwise," she said, a bit of confusion in her voice, and relief swept over Cronkine. His stiff shoulders sagged slightly and his fists unclenched just a little. 

"I'm glad," he said, smiling honestly, and the princess smiled back.

Cronkine became conscious that he was staring at the princess, so he glanced away, but his attention was suddenly caught by the short girl the princess was with- her handmaiden, most likely- who dropped her gaze to the floor as soon as their eyes met, avoiding him like the plague.

Something akin to cold dread settled in Cronkine's stomach. What he had seen in her expression before she looked away had not been reassuring. 

**Author's Note:**

> I called him Cronkine instead of Klancain because I like the idea that all of Cruhteo's children's names start with the letter "c".
> 
> I decided to turn [this post](http://novembuck.tumblr.com/post/113632232278/ok-but-consider-slaines-mask-being-a-little-less) into a fic. I was really hoping we would get to see some of Slaine's trauma, but he's so good at keeping his feelings locked away and a mask on his face, and the writers didn't deign to show us his inner thoughts via flashback or anything. I should be updating older fics instead, but I'm a fickle person tbh


End file.
